Exactly 40 days before the terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan team in Lahore, the Crime Investigation Department (CID) Punjab on Jan 22, 2009, had issued a precise threat alert about a RAW plan to target the touring team to defame Pakistan.
The CID, while referring to a source report, had said that the terrorist attack would be carried out while the Sri Lankan team is traveling “between the hotel and stadium or at the hotel during their stay”. And this is exactly what the whole world saw on March 3, 2009, raising a million dollar question about the serious security lapse on the part of the then government.
Although those who were responsible for ignoring the threat alert remained unpunished, the attack showed how India was sponsoring terrorism to hurt Pakistan’s cricket.
January 22, 2009, report tagged “SECRET/IMMEDIATE” with the subject “SOURCE REPORT” read: “It has reliably been learned that RAW (the Indian Intelligence agency) has assigned its agents the task to target the Sri Lankan cricket team during its current visit to Lahore, especially while traveling between the hotel and stadium or at the hotel during their stay.
- It is evident that RAW intends to show Pakistan as a security risk state for sports events particularly when European and Indian teams have already postponed their proposed visits considering it a high security risk to visit Pakistan.
- RAW has also collected photographs of leaders of the Jamaat-ud-Dawa (proscribed) and its establishments to target them.
- Extreme vigilance and heightened security arrangements indicated.”
